Thursday's Premier Division action review

Hednesford Town moved to within five points of Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division leaders North Ferriby United on Thursday night after edging out second-bottom Kendal Town 2-1 at Keys Park, writes Pitchero's Steve Whitney.

This was one of the Pitmen's two games in hand on Ferriby and they needed the victory to keep the title race alive. But they got off to a terrible start when Jack Cook put the struggling Cumbrians in front inside the opening two minutes.

It took a while for the home side to find their feet after the blow but five minutes before half-time they pulled back on level terms when a Sean O'Connor effort was cleared off the line and Michael Lennon pounced to head over the line. And what proved to be the winner in a scrappy game came on the hour-mark and it came from another Lennon header.

In the other Premier Division game on Thursday, Buxton maintained their play-off hopes after a 1-1 draw at the New Manor Ground against Ilkeston FC. The experienced Lee Morris gave the Bucks the lead with a lobbed effort after 14 minutes. Ilkeston got back into the match three minutes after the break through James Reid. The home side piled on the pressure after that but Buxton held on to move up to eighth in the table with eight games left to play - six of them at home.